The Most Revolutionary Consumer Product to Date?

XBox Project Natal

I'm in the market for a new game console.  I'd never really been a gamer, but I played my fair share of Zaxon, Techmo Bowl and Qbert and growing up.  Two years ago, I bought a used Xbox from a friend a and while the sports games are entertaining, I was kind of disappointed with the resolution & image quality of the games which got me thinking about an upgrade.

A few of my friends have PS3s and have been suggesting that I get one so that we can play games online together.   I'd heard of this new infrared sensor type game console about a year ago and thought I should check into when it's going to be released before buying anything.

I am absolutely blown away by this....As a marketer, think about the possiblities that exist in our future.  This Project Natal and the devices that come after it (location services) will undoubtedly change how future consumers shop....for everything.

Crush it by Gary Vanerchuk: presentation notes from The Art of Marketing

• Gary Started WineLibrary.com and wine library TV
• grew to over $60million dollar business.  He's 33.
• from '95-'03 he spent over $4.5 million in marketing (annually?)
• from '03 to now he spends about $25,000 (annually?)
• Liquor laws prohibited mass distribution so he started trying to build his own brand
• push marketing - pound the message with traditional media
• Pull Marketing - Social media.  it's about caring.  You cant buy friends & relationships in online communities.  Your content has to be relevant
• Content is King.  But Marketing is the Queen that steers the ship
• Big Box marketing approach is rapidly changing
• Those businesses that go back to "small town values" will win.  In the small towns as a business owner, you've got to hustle, care and understand that people appreciate the bakers dozen price point
• online relationships are just as real as in person ones
• he has 850,000 twitter followers
• the web is just a baby.  it's only been 15 years since we even had such a thing as email.  Youtube is only 5 years old
• Virtual Currency:  Facebook Credits ,  Foursquare
• brands will have to care because word of mouth is now on steroids
• the truth is undefeated.  doing the right thing is never wrong
• if you're trying to reach consumers, you need to have a facebook fan page
• look at other companies that didn't adapt.  Zagat is getting killed by Yelp.
• you need to understand this stuff, play with it, taste it.  get on twitter and facebook and experience these new platforms of communication
• respect the customer
• be socially engaged 24/7.  get committed to it. seek out and engage conversations.  give authenitc non-salesy answers.  You don't need to convince people this is important...find the ones who already believe it is.